Name: Porter Loring Mortuary - McCullough
Address: San Antonio, TX

Dear Lucie - If it hadn't been for your help in getting me into Saint Mary's Hall, I wouldn't be the man that I am today. Your generosity definitely changed the course of my life in ways that I could never imagine. 

I founded (and currently running) a high school internship that is meant for kids like me, back when you found me in 1983. 

Thank you so much, and rest in peace. 

-Sonny Quintanilla

Rest in Peace LUCIE!! 
"Remember The Alamo " We will continue to Honor our family's, we are Proud and will carry the torch!! 
GODS SPEED 
Sincerely 
GOD Bless You cousin !!

I just learned today when running into Ms. Lucie Carr Armstrong's real estate who helped her sell a tiny cottage Ms. Armstrong owned in Alamo Heights, that Ms. Armstrong passed away. I had just given thanks once again, last evening for Ms. Armstrong having sold her tiny cottage to me in 1988. We remained grateful all these years for Ms. Armstrong's generosity in pricing our baby cottage at a price I could afford at the time. Were it not for her generosity, purchasing a home would not have been an option. Occasionally, I would call Ms. Armstrong to tell her how much we loved our home and how grateful we will always be. She loved dogs as most know. We had a wonderful Golden Retriever, Rio, who passed away at 14 years old. Not too long after that, I called Ms. Armstrong to give my word of thanks once more and I told her about Rio and that I wasn't sure I could get another dog so soon for my son, Steven. Ms. Armstrong knew and always asked about my son and how he was doing. Ms. Armstrong knew I was a single mom raising an adult son with significant disabilities. So, Ms. Armsrong in that strong voice of hers tells me, Oh, dear, you must get another dog. Don't you know that dogs lick away tears? With that, we got our Sophie, girl, a yellow Labrador Retriever. Just last summer I spoke to Ms. Armstrong to give thanks again and to tell her that Sophie was traveling along with my son, Steven to Maui, Hawaii and would always appreciate her generosity and words of wisdom on doggies. Funny how you can feel you know someone, keep them in your thoughts and thankful prayers, but not know them as much as you would like. I regret we never made out to Tarpley but she knew we kept her close in our hearts. We'll continue to give thanks to Ms. Armstrong. Always. 
R.I.P. and Aloha Nui Loa from Beverly, Steven and Sophie San Antonio, TX

Buck?s words, along with Julia?s, friends, and neighbors made for a meaningful farewell to a dear friend. 
But, as anyone would, in moments of quiet reflection after such a loss, many stories come to mind. 
Frankly, I only know bits & pieces, and with Lucie, like all legendary characters, fact & fiction just might blur. 
Lucie, a Canary Island descendant Curbelo on one side, was also a descendant of the Scottish Armstrong fighting clan. It?s never been real clear what they were fighting about?But they were fighting anyway. 
Her grandfather, a Texas Ranger, arrested John Wesley Hardin, at that time the most notorious killer in Texas. He was arrested in Pensacola, Florida. As the story goes Mr. Armstrong stayed awake for 4 days on the train, returning the outlaw to Texas to stand trial. Mr. Armstrong used the reward to buy what is now the Armstrong Ranch. After release John Wesley ironically, became a lawyer. He still managed to kill a few more times before being shot in the back in El Paso. 
So Lucie definitely came by her stubbornness and fighting nature honestly. 
Lucie?s father was killed in a car wreck when she was six. Beside her mother who she cared for until she died, Lucie was raised by her big brothers Tobin & John and her uncle Major Tom Armstrong. Major Tom was a dashing bachelor until he wed at seventy. He spent a lot of time in Latin America. Lucie was the apple of his eye. 
Lucie went to college at Sarah Lawrence. She was a few years behind Gloria Steinem. Not much seemed to rub off on her, except she came back with a complete disdain for sororities and fraternities. On the other hand, maybe that?s why she went there in the first place. 
By all accounts her year as Fiesta Queen was one for the books. 
At six foot tall, shapely with long red hair she strikingly hot. 
Working for J. Louis Rubin she attracted great attention as she became the first female to work on the floor at the New York Stock exchange. 
As a child of the border lands, she was bilingual and bicultural, and more often than not, by herself. While she had many suitors from far and wide, she never wed. It was said that no man could ever measure up to her brother John. She may have set her standards too high. Few men could measure up to John Armstrong. 
After her mother died, she was really alone. She opened a quail hunting operation at her beloved San Rafael, an abandoned ranch station build by the Spanish sometime around 1800. Her nearest neighbor was 25 miles away. On weekends, big-wigs from Houston and Dallas came to hunt. She received great acclaim for her operation. Everyone knew that when you hunted at San Rafael, you might be called ?Bwana? back home, but at San Rafael Lucie was boss. 
Lucie later left San Rafael for the Hill Country, settling in the mountain village of Tarpley at the Williams Creek Ranch. She promptly set about improving the land, making friends with the locals, and becoming the center of social activities, such as they were. Every year, her exotic suburban known as ?the float? won first place in the Labor Day Parade, as she played an ?Auntie Mame,? role will young ?nieces and nephews.? She was great at story telling. Noting Spanish mines, Indian battles and ghost stories that occurred in the area. 
She applied for membership in the Tarpley volunteer Fire Department and was promptly rejected?But this opened the door for Charlotte LW Learned, Naylene Dillingham, and KC Wojohowski a few years later. KC Wojohowski is also a member of the fire department and the first female fire truck driver. 
She said she would refurbish the one-room school house?Rejected again because her proposed restoration might have been a little too exotic, like her float. Nonetheless, she opened the path to a serious reconditioning a few years ago. 
As noted, Lucie was highly creative and artistic. She decorated many homes over the years. All had photos of family and friends. She also painted, in oil, paintings of herself in the buff. She was not modest and she was proud of her ?assets.? 
Long ago, a Texas oilman persuaded Lucie to sell one of these self portraits. He went home and placed it over his mantle. The picture didn?t last long when his wife returned from Europe? 
When my mother ?in-law passed away, my father-in-law, Jeff Bell, was in the deepest of depressions. He could barely speak without tearing up. We were invited to Lucie?s and he very reluctantly came along. 
When we walked in, Lucie spotted a handsome man?Light chatter commenced between Lucie and Jeff?Lucie took his arm and set him down, almost ignoring her guests. They finished off a bottle of gin. Jeff realized that he could smile again and his life began to heal from then on. Lucie, well, she was just being herself. 
 Legends pass away, but their memory often lives on. Vaya con dios, Lucie.

Buck?s words, along with Julia?s, friends, and neighbors made for a meaningful farewell to a dear friend. 
But, as anyone would, in moments of quiet reflection after such a loss, many stories come to mind. 
Frankly, I only know bits & pieces, and with Lucie, like all legendary characters, fact & fiction just might blur. 
Lucie, a Canary Island descendant Curbelo on one side, was also a descendant of the Scottish Armstrong fighting clan. It?s never been real clear what they were fighting about?But they were fighting anyway. 
Her grandfather, a Texas Ranger, arrested John Wesley Hardin, at that time the most notorious killer in Texas. He was arrested in Pensacola, Florida. As the story goes Mr. Armstrong stayed awake for 4 days on the train, returning the outlaw to Texas to stand trial. Mr. Armstrong used the reward to buy what is now the Armstrong Ranch. After release John Wesley, ironically, became a lawyer. He still managed to kill a few more times before being shot in the back in El Paso. 
So Lucie definitely came by her stubbornness and fighting nature honestly. 
Lucie?s father was killed in a car wreck when she was six. Beside her mother who she cared for until she died, Lucie was raised by her big brothers Tobin & John and her uncle Major Tom Armstrong. Major Tom was a dashing bachelor until he wed at seventeen. He spent a lot of time in Latin America. Lucie was the apple of his eye. 
Lucie went to college at Sarah Lawrence. She was a few years behind Gloria Steinem. Not much seemed to rub off on her, except she came back with a complete disdain for sororities and fraternities. On the other hand, maybe that?s why she went there in the first place. 
By all accounts her year as Fiesta Queen was one for the books. 
At six foot tall, shapely with long red hair she strikingly hot. 
Working for J. Louis Rubin she attracted great attention as she became the first female to work on the floor at the New York Stock exchange. 
As a child of the border lands, she was bilingual and bicultural, and more often than not, by herself. While she had many suitors from far and wide, she never wed. It was said that no man could ever measure up to her brother John. She may have set her standards too high. Few men could measure up to John Armstrong. 
After her mother died, she was really alone. She opened a quail hunting operation at her beloved San Rafael, an abandoned ranch station build by the Spanish sometime around 1800. Her nearest neighbor was 25 miles away. On weekends, big-wigs from Houston and Dallas came to hunt. She received great acclaim for her operation. Everyone knew that when you hunted at San Rafael, you might be called ?Bwana? back home, but at San Rafael Lucie was boss. 
Lucie later left San Rafael for the Hill Country, settling in the mountain village of Tarpley at the Williams Creek Ranch. She promptly set about improving the land, making friends with the locals, and becoming the center of social activities, such as they were. Every year, her exotic suburban known as ?the float? won first place in the Labor Day Parade, as she played an ?Auntie Mame,? role will young ?nieces and nephews.? She was great at story telling. Noting Spanish mines, Indian battles and ghost stories that occurred in the area. 
She applied for membership in the Tarpley volunteer Fire Department and was promptly rejected?But this opened the door for Charlotte LW Learned and Naylene Dillingham a few years later. 
She said she would refurbish the one-room school house?Rejected again because her proposed restoration might have been a little too exotic, like her float. Nonetheless, she opened the path to a serious reconditioning a few years ago. 
As noted, Lucie was highly creative and artistic. She decorated many homes over the years. All had photos of family and friends. She also painted, in oil, paintings of herself in the buff. She was not modest and she was proud of her ?assets.? 
Long ago, a Texas oilman persuaded Lucie to sell one of these self portraits. He went home and placed it over his mantle. The picture didn?t last long when his wife returned from Europe? 
When my mother ?in-law passed away, my father-in-law, Jeff Bell, was in the deepest of depressions. He could barely speak without tearing up. We were invited to Lucie?s and he very reluctantly came along. 
When we walked in, Lucie spotted a handsome man?Light chatter commenced between Lucie and Jeff?Lucie took his arm and set him down, almost ignoring her guest. They finished off a bottle of gin. Jeff realized that he could smile again and his life began to heal from then on. Lucie, well, she was just being herself. 
 Legends pass away, but their memory often lives on. Vaya con dios, Lucie

We will miss our beloved next-door neighbor.

Bon Voyage to A Grand Dame, A Great Lady, and Long Time Good Friend.

Sitting outside Lucie's house in South Texas, in an few moments, I saw both the Sunset and the Moonrise... and we talked for hours! She was sensitive, kind and thoughtful; she challenged others just by being herself; and her art was as interesting as she. No matter how long between visits, I always knew she cared. We are better for having known and loved Lucie. She will be missed and remembered with great affection and admiration. My thoughts and prayers are with her family and friends.

I will always have fond memories of Lucy when I was a little girl posing for a portrait that she painted in her art studio in San Antonio.

I will always remember Lucie with deep affection and 
much love. 
She was a friend who always listened and understood. 
Her beauty, intelligence,her vibrant spirit will be with me always. 
I will miss her tremendously, and cherish her memory.

I was introduced to Lucie through Roy and Cynthia Murray MANY years ago, and was fortunate enough to experience her wonderful hospitality on several occasions. On one occasion, I nearly took my Jeep Cherokee "hang gliding" off a road near the top of her ranch and needed to call back to the house for help. I can still picture the sight of a flower-painted SUV coming to my rescue and still hear her laughter from across the valley upon sight of my predicament. I imagine the sound of her laughter will hang over that beautiful landscape forever. I know she will always be in my memories.

OBITUARY

Lucie Carr Armstrong

March 15, 1933 – December 26, 2010

Porter Loring Mortuary - McCullough

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